


Spiritual

by nightshade002



Series: the one with the spirits [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Fantasy, Human Iwaizumi, M/M, Spirits, Temporary Character Death, but mostly because iwaizumi is a teenager, i swear it's fine tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-11 18:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13530501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightshade002/pseuds/nightshade002
Summary: Hajimeshould notgo into the forest. He's been told that since he was little. So, of course, when real life gets stressful and he doesn't really have many ways of avoiding his problems, he enters the forest. And colossally fucks up his life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> big shoutout to the iwaoi discord bc w/o it this fic would not exist
> 
> it all started with [this](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/0b/a4/67/0ba467ba87dd7f095ca6cae0338ae1f6--masks-art-clay-masks.jpg)

_“Don’t go into the forest, Hajime. The spirits there will take you away and never bring you back.”_

Hajime scoffs as he kicks the rocks along the path he was taking. His grandmother had been telling him that since the first time he visited her and at 17, it’s getting frustrating. He knows that when he was younger it was a good way to keep him away from the forest. But now? He’s a week away from 18 and he doesn’t believe in that anymore.

Well, he kind of does. A little. But not enough for it to keep him away from the forest. He never knew what he was missing, but now that he’s _in the forest_ he regrets not coming sooner. He almost doesn’t want to leave. Rationally, he knows he’ll have to eventually, but for the time being, he’s happier than he’s been in a while. His father keeps trying to ‘encourage’ him to go into business, but that’s really not where his passion lies.

He pulls out his camera, an old one that he’d gotten years ago from his grandfather, and curses when he realizes that he forgot to charge the battery before he left. There’s still enough battery left that he can get some good pictures in. He would have thought there would be more animals, or at least birds, around, but they must have been scared off by him. It’s not like he was really on any type of path.

The first glimpse Hajime gets of… _it?_ is through his camera. It disappears less than a second later, though, and Hajime thinks nothing of it. The battery of his camera is long dead the second time Hajime sees it. He’s been taking pictures on his phone and the battery on _that_ is near dead, too. It’s more unsettling the second time, but Hajime brushes it off as mere imagination.

His phone dies, too, before the third time he sees it. He doesn’t mind when it happens. He was really only taking pictures for himself for later; all of the messages and calls he was getting were being ignored anyway.

The third time Hajime sees it, he’s sitting on the forest floor, pencils scattered around him and sketchbook in his lap. The first two times, he’d seen it from far away, through a camera. _This_ time, it looms over him, close enough to cast a shadow over him. Hajime’s breath catches in his throat and his grandmother’s words come back to him.

_“Don’t go into the forest, Hajime. The spirits there will take you away and never bring you back.”_

Hajime stares up at it. It looks like it’s made of the forest, skin tinged green, vines curling around its arms and lower legs, some sort of skirt(? Clothes really aren’t Hajime’s strong suit) made of red leaves, a shawl made from some sort of animal fur, and a mask, possibly still growing small branches with flowers over its hair. The mask is probably the worst part, covering most of its face with a smooth green wood. There are holes for eyes, but Hajime’s not entirely sure they’re there. All he can see is darkness. 

It reaches out to him and that’s all he can take. He gets up and _runs_. He doesn’t look back, doesn’t mind the loss of his sketchbook or pencils. He’d much rather escape with his life.

\--

Tooru watches the human run. He’s picked up what it so carelessly left behind, hoping to give it back, but he’s not sure it won’t run away again. It’s a bit irritating that the human seems intent on leaving destruction in its path, but that’s what Tooru is for. To restore the forest to its glory when the humans hurt any part of it.

This one seems different, though. Usually when humans come into the forest, it’s not quite this far. And they’re usually scared away by the first glance at him. And they come with the intent to hurt the forest. This one did none of that. 

Tooru shrugs it off. Humans have always been harmful to his forest. He has no reason to believe this one will be any different. It would be nice, though. Tooru loves his animal companions dearly and wouldn't trade his spirit friends for the world, but this human would be a nice change of pace.

He's pulled out of his thoughts by a cry of pain. _Takahiro._ Tooru abandons the human so he can find Takahiro. He does his best to follow the cries, but somehow the human gets there first. Takahiro managed to get his paw stuck and twisted in a hole while in fox form. The human is panting from all the running, but it does make an effort to look less threatening. 

Completely lacking any tact whatsoever, the human sticks its hand out to Takahiro. Takahiro bares his teeth, but doesn't snap at the human.

“Are you stuck?” it says softly, not yet retracting its hand. In fact, it does the opposite, reaching towards Takahiro’s injured paw. Takahiro gives it a wary look, as well he should, but thankfully doesn’t snap. “I can help.”

Takahiro tries to pull his paw out of the hole frantically as the human gets closer, sending out more distress signals. Tooru winces at the intensity, but sends out his own calming ones in response.

The human inches closer to Takahiro carefully. The first thing it tries is to simply pull Takahiro out, which results in Takahiro yipping and finally snapping at it. He doesn’t bite the human yet, though, which is good. Tooru wasn’t sure the human would stay if he did. The next thing it does is dig around the hole. This takes much longer, but does result in Takahiro’s freedom. He pauses to lower himself into an almost-bow before running off to where Tooru’s been watching from.

Tooru bends down to pet him and heal his paw.

“Just so you know,” Takahiro says, not bothering to shift out of his fox form, “I don’t appreciate being the bait so you can see what this human would do.”

Tooru shrugs. “You could have just killed it if you hated that so much.” Takahiro shakes his head and bounds off.

The human is still kneeling in the same place and Tooru steps out of the shadows. He makes sure to make enough noise that it can tell he’s there. The human’s head snaps up and Tooru can see the fear in its eyes at the sight of him. And he can see how its gaze slides down to the things it left behind before jumping back up to his face.

It falls back when he takes a step forward. When he takes another step, it frantically crawls backward along the forest floor. He sighs and holds out the human’s belongings. Tooru’s not sure what it’ll do if he talks, so he remains silent for now.

Tooru smiles a little when the human stands slowly. His smile widens, only by a little when the human reaches out to take its things.

“What is your name?” he asks before he can regret the question. The human stares at him in silence, arm extended and hand almost touching the things Tooru picked up. “You do have a name, do you not?”

“I-it’s Iwa-” it cuts itself off. “You can call me Iwa.”

“Tell me, Iwa, do you know the weight of names?” The human gives a small nod. “Is that why you’ve given me a false name?”

“It’s- it’s not false. It’s just… not my full name.”

Tooru hums. “Smart. Do you know what happens when you leave something important to you in the forest?” Iwa shakes its head. “I’d recommend not finding out. After all, that’s where the stories about us spirits come from, and I’m _sure_ you’ve heard those. For now, though, you’re lucky I was the one to find you and that you helped out another spirit just now. You’re welcome to come back through the forest, but be careful of your possessions.”

“T-thank you,” it manages, finally taking its things from him.

“Do you know your way out?”

“I-I can-”

Tooru sighs. “Follow me.”

He turns around, not bothering to see if Iwa was following. It wouldn’t be a good idea for the human to attempt to find its own way out of the forest. There’s no telling who else would find it before it gets out.

Like Kentarou, who’s currently running full speed towards them, growling. Tooru glances back at Iwa. “Don’t say anything to him. All you’ll do is make him mad.”

“Don’t say anything to who?”

_Right_. Tooru forgets sometimes that humans have mediocre senses.

“What is that _thing_ doing here?” Kentarou growls, barely coming to a stop before speaking. Iwa flinches and steps behind Tooru, apparently deciding that Tooru is the lesser of two evils. It’s wrong, but the sentiment is nice. And Tooru can’t blame it. He probably wouldn’t want to face down a wolf of Kentarou’s size if he were human.

“I’m just leading it out. It’s a friend.”

Kentarou huffs. “It’s human. Why should I not just eat it?”

Tooru tilts his head. “Because I told you not to. Iwa is a friend. Do you need any more reason than that?”

Kentarou stalks past him. Tooru would tell Iwa not to move, but it doesn’t look like there’s any danger of that happening any time soon. Iwa is practically paralyzed with fear as Kentarou circles him. “Can it speak?”

Tooru rolls his eyes, though neither of them can see because of the mask. He’s about to answer when Iwa beats him to it.

“Yes, and ‘it’ doesn’t like being called an ‘it’,” Iwa replies. Tooru’s not sure how Kentarou’s going to react, but he doesn’t expect him to push his front paws off the ground and onto Iwa’s shoulders from behind. He _certainly_ doesn’t expect him to open his mouth and fit it around Iwa’s head.

“What do you like being called, then?” Tooru asks. He’s certain Kentarou won’t kill Iwa right now. Mostly. Which is why he doesn’t order him to back off. That and Tooru’s curious to see how Iwa will react.

“Just say he or something,” Hajime says, voice incredibly stable for how terrified he must be now. “If you’re going to kill me, please just get it over with.”

“Aww, the puppy’s not going to hurt you, _is he_?” Tooru asks with just enough intent behind the words to get Kentarou to back off.

“Don’t call me puppy,” he growls out before running off.

“Let’s go, then, Iwa,” Tooru says lightly. “We’re almost there.”

It only takes them a few more minutes to get to the edge of the forest, nearly the exact place Iwa had come in from. “This is as far as I go. I hope to see you again sometime.”

“Thank you,” Iwa says quietly. Tooru watches him go, somewhat sadly. He has a feeling that Iwa won’t be inclined to come back anytime soon, which is a shame. Tooru meant it when he said that he hopes to see Iwa again.

\--

Hajime’s heart is still racing, if he’s honest. He truly did think he would die when the wolf put his mouth around his head. He exhales shakily, looking down at his hands as he walks back to his grandparents’ house. They’re shaking harder than he thought they were.

“I’m back!” he calls out when he opens the door.

“Hajime! Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!”

He returns his mother’s hug, holding on tighter than he usually would. “Sorry, I just had to calm down. My phone died.”

“It took you eight hours to calm down?” his father asks, standing a distance away with his arms crossed. “And you couldn’t return any of our calls or texts?”

Hajime hangs his head. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Where were you?”

Hajime quickly weighs the pros and cons of lying. He’ll get in far more trouble for going into the forest than wherever else he could come up with, but he’s never been good at lying and he’d be caught in an instant. “The forest.”

“You went into the forest?” his mother gasps. Hajime nods.

“I thought I taught you not to lie,” his father says.

“I didn’t lie!” Hajime replies, raising his voice a little.

“There aren’t any paths into the forest. I thought you were smarter than to go into a forest off the path. How would you even get back out?”

“You don’t believe me,” Hajime scoffs, “of course you don’t believe me.” He pushes past his father to head upstairs. “Why would you?”

“Hajime! Come back here!” his father yells after him, but Hajime ignores him. 

_This_ is why he had left earlier and if it wasn’t near dark, he’d leave again. Probably. Maybe even go back to the forest. For now, though, he takes the card out of his camera and puts it in his computer so he can look through the pictures he took and plugs both his phone and the camera battery in to charge.

There’s a knock on his door and Hajime sighs before getting up to open it. “Grandma? What-”

“Shh, shh, Hajime,” she says, shooing him back into the room and closing the door. Hajime sits back down on the chair at his desk while his grandmother sits on the bed. “You went into the forest.”

Hajime nods hesitantly. “Yeah, but-”

“And you _survived_.”

“I’m fairly certain it was just barely. You weren’t kidding about the spirits in the forest. They really exist.”

She smiles. “Of course they do. Your father doesn’t believe and you didn’t either, did you?” Hajime shakes his head. “Did you meet any?”

“I think I met three?” Hajime says. “Well, I know I met two, and one of the two said that I helped a third. Grandma, did you ever go into the forest?”

“I did. Once. I was around your age. I wandered in and got myself lost for a few days. Everyone in town was frantically looking for me, but I was playing with the spirits. I met a lot, spirits of all kinds of animals from all over the forest, but my favorite was the guardian spirit of the forest. He was the kindest of them all, making sure the others were nice to me and paying me the most attention. He wasn’t happy when I had to leave, but the people in town were threatening to move their search into the forest and that would disrupt the balance of everything.”

“Then why did you tell me to stay out of the forest? The spirits don’t seem so bad.”

“The guardian spirit told me that there were things he couldn’t control about the forest’s magic and the other spirits. He’s the most powerful of them, but there are some who resent him for the power he holds. Those spirits will attempt to disrupt the balance by drawing humans in and killing them. Even, sometimes, humans simply entering the forest will disrupt the balance enough that the forest itself lashes out. But that’s not the only reason.”

Hajime tilts his head in confusion. “Then what-”

“If you go in and manage to find a way back out again, you’ll be drawn back. Which is why, unfortunately, you’ll have to stay in the house for the next week. If you can do that, you’ll be able to resist the urge to return, but every time you go back, the harder it is to resist.”

“I don’t want to stay inside for a _week_! It’s almost my birthday and it’s the beginning of summer! I don’t even want to go back into the forest.” Even as Hajime says this, he realizes it’s a lie. He’s already thought about going back once and the idea seems even better now that he’s thinking about it.

“My decision is final. It’s for your own good, Hajime. I know you’re strong enough to resist the pull.”

\--

Hajime wakes up feeling restless. It’s strange to wake up with such an abundance of energy, but he’s not complaining. He’s about to head out the door for his morning jog, his hand is _on_ the door handle, when he’s stopped by his parents.

“Where do you think you’re going?” his father asks.

“Out for a run?” Hajime says, though it sounds more like a question than a statement. “Like I do every morning?”

“Didn’t your grandma tell you last night? You’re grounded for a week,” his mother says. “You’re not allowed out of the house until the week is up.”

Hajime looks helplessly between his mother and father, hoping to see some sort of sign that they didn’t mean it. “You can’t be serious.”

“We are. You need to realize that it’s not acceptable to just _disappear_ for hours at a time and not respond to anyone. And if that takes grounding you for a week, then you’re grounded for a week. And if you try to sneak out, I’ll cancel the rest of this summer’s trip and we’ll go back home,” his father replies sternly.

“Dad, Mom,” he pleads, quickly losing hope, “this is ridiculous. An entire week?”

“If it’s what we need to do, it’s what we need to do,” his father shrugs. “Our decision is final.”

“ _Please_ -”

“Hajime,” his mother says sharply, “we wanted to make it two weeks, but your grandma convinced us one would be enough. If you keep arguing like this, we won’t hesitate to extend your punishment.”

Hajime pauses, staring at the door for a long second. “Fine,” he relents, letting his hand drop away, “fine.”

\--

“Will it come back?” Takahiro asks, sitting in the tree above Tooru. He’s switched out of fox form, for now.

“He’s not an it,” Tooru murmurs.

“Will _he_ come back?” he corrects.

Tooru shrugs, no doubt looking through the trees at the edge of the forest. “He’ll want to, but who’s to say. Weaker humans have resisted the call before, but then there are stronger humans that haven’t. It’ll come down to what he wants.”

“And?” Takahiro jumps down from his perch, leaning most of his weight on Tooru. “What does he want?”

Tooru shrugs once more, only with his right shoulder. Takahiro smiles at the fact that he doesn’t want to dislodge him just yet. “I didn’t ask anything about him. All I know is that part of his name is Iwa. And that he doesn’t like being called an it.”

“That’s no fun,” Takahiro pouts, draping more of himself over Tooru. “What’s the point in you being powerful if you don’t use your powers to find things out?”

“I tried, but Iwa’s more difficult to read than you or Issei.”

“I hardly think we even count at this point. It’s almost creepy how much you can tell.”

Tooru smiles, pulling his mask away from his face. “You mean like how I know you hate this?”

Takahiro nods, pulling his own off. “Do you think Issei would be mad if we started without him?”

Tooru turns around and rests his hands on Takahiro’s waist. “He’s almost here. I think we can wait just a few more minutes.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's chapter two!! it's so wild for me to actually have an updating schedule for a fic lmao

Hajime wakes up at the window on the third night. He’s certain that when he went to sleep he was in his bed and he’s never been a sleep walker before now. His grandmother definitely wasn’t wrong about feeling drawn to the forest. The past few days had been hell and he isn’t looking forward to four more days. Not if it’s going to feel this bad.

He looks out the window. The forest really isn’t that far from his grandmother’s house. He could probably just leave for a while and come back and no one would notice.

“No, no, what am I thinking?” he whispers, forcing himself to turn away from the window. He tries to go back to sleep, but he tosses and turns so much that he eventually just gives up on sleep altogether. Instead, he turns on his light, realizing that it's barely past one in the morning, and starts up his computer. He never got to finish looking through the pictures he had taken in the forest and hopefully looking at them now will alleviate some of the urge to break out of his grandmother's house.

The pictures are much better quality than he had expected, and there are a lot more animals present than he knows he saw that day. And the spirit he talked with is in more pictures than he expected. It's looking directly at the camera in every one of the pictures.

Without registering any movement, he's at his door this time, hand hovering over the handle. He knows he shouldn't risk sneaking out. He _knows_ it's a bad idea. But he can't help it. Hajime is practically vibrating with the need to leave, to go outside, and he's not sure he's strong enough to resist. If he even really wants to.

He jumps when there's a soft knock at his door and waits a few seconds before opening it.

"Mom?"

"What are you doing up this late, Hajime?" she asks softly. Hajime moves aside to let her in.

"I guess I just couldn't sleep. I don't know what it is," he says, keeping his tone low as well. The last thing they need is to wake up his father.

"You must just be restless from having to stay inside for so long. I can't even remember the last time you went more than a few days without going outside," she says with a smile.

"Do you think we can go outside? Just you and me? Only for a little bit?" Hajime asks, hopeful. 

His mother's smile turns sad. "No. This is your punishment. I know you were mad at your father, but you can't just run off like that. I was worried you had died or gotten abducted or something when you didn't answer your phone for so long and none of your friends knew where you were either. If you're going to run off for the whole day, at least let _someone_ know where you are."

"I know, I'm... I'm sorry. Does dad still not believe that I went into the forest?"

"I think it's just hard for him to believe. I don't think he thinks you lied, we all know you're terrible at that, but I don't think he believes that anyone would willingly enter the forest."

"Do you believe me?"

His mother hesitates, and that's really all Hajime needs to know. "I..."

"You don't," he answers for her.

"I'd like to, but it's hard for me to believe. You understand, right?"

Hajime shrugs. "I don't really understand what the big deal with the forest is. It's not a bad place. It's actually really peaceful while you're there."

"You don't want to go back..." his mother trails off uncertainly, "do you?"

"I... I don't know," Hajime admits. "I really don't think it's all that bad. Sure there are the spirits, but-"

"It's not the spirits or _whatever_ your grandmother has been telling you that I'm worried about, it's the _animals_. Hajime, there are bears in the forest."

"And the bears could easily just come into town if they really wanted to kill people."

"In the forest, who will be there to take you to a doctor?"

Hajime tilts his head, actually considering the question. "Why take a dead person to a doctor?"

"That's not the point, Hajime, and you know it."

"Do you want to see the pictures I took?" he asks instead of responding. He's certain any more discussion of whether or not the forest is a good place is going to end in an argument and that's the last thing he wants right now. His mother nods and he unlocks his computer to show her the pictures already loaded.

"This is all so..." she pauses, not entirely certain what word to use.

"It's beautiful," Hajime finishes for her. "Stunning. Magnificent. Peaceful. Calm. Pick one, they all fit."

She clicks through the pictures, almost in a trance. "You really took all of these?"

Hajime nods proudly. "Yeah, and the battery in my camera died before I could get to the really pretty stuff. I've got more pictures on my phone."

"This is amazing," she breathes, "Have you ever thought about getting a better camera?"

"Well, yeah," Hajime admits, "But this one was from grandpa and I like having something that reminds me of him. And I can't really afford the one that I want."

"You know, your birthday is in a few days, we could probably figure something out."

"Really? But dad-"

"Doesn't need to know until after it's bought, alright?"

Hajime smiles. "Okay."

"Now get to sleep, you," his mother says, ruffling his hair. "You need more than whatever you're getting."

\--

Hajime hasn't actually slept for two days. He's not sure how he's even on his feet at this point, but he's somehow managing. He only has to finish this last day of his punishment, simply make it to tomorrow, and he's determined not to ruin anything now.

His parents have been asking all day if he was sick or feeling alright, but since he couldn't point to a solid cause, he didn't bother saying anything more than "I'm fine."

His grandmother keeps monitoring him closely, which is a little uncomfortable, but Hajime knows why she's doing it. He's been _so restless_ since he was grounded that he should really still be considered a flight risk. Starting tomorrow, though, he'll be a free man again. In more than one sense of the word. Tomorrow is also his eighteenth birthday and honestly, Hajime can't wait. He'll finally be free to do what he wants.

He just has to make it through the night.

Staying inside is getting harder and harder for him, but he's not going to give up now. Even if he's woken up literally half way out his window. Or at the bottom of the stairs. Or leaning against the door. (Apparently he's taken to sleep walking.) None of that matters because he's not going to do anything tonight. He's already locked the windows shut and once he's ready to go to sleep, he'll lock his door. Just to be sure.

A few hours later, he realizes he forgot to factor in one key thing. He _can't_ sleep. At all. And it's starting to be a problem. He's fairly certain he'll wear a hole in the floor with the amount of pacing he's doing. He's already gotten two texts from his parents telling him to quiet down and go to sleep, but he just can't. He physically can't.

Hajime begins to wonder if he really is sick and that's what's making him pace so much. Maybe if he takes a walk, that'll help him. He starts towards the door to his room before stopping himself. _No_ , he can't leave the room. Not because that's what his parents said, but because it's what he's decided. 

But it's starting to feel really hot inside. Maybe if he opens the window. Hajime has to stop that train of thought, too, before it gets too far. Opening the window will lead to a route outside which will lead to sneaking out which will lead to the forest. And the forest seems like such a nice place right now, he really should go back.

Hajime slaps his face with both hands, trying to snap himself out of it. He _can't_ think of the forest, not now. Not when he's so close to resisting and being done with it forever.

"I don't want to be done forever," he murmurs quietly, and for a second he doesn't even register the fact that he spoke. "I want to go back."

He shakes his head, pulling on his hair, hard, hoping the pain will help. It doesn't, not really, but Hajime can't think of anything else to do at this point. Every idea he has just keeps leading back to the forest and he wants to go back. He wants to go back so _badly_ that he can't stand it. He's been able to resist in some way for the past week, but now it feels like there's some sort of rope around him, pulling him back to the forest and he's powerless to stop it. He's trying his best, but he's not sure that his best is good enough.

Hajime stops pacing and sits down in the middle of the room. He closes his eyes and tries to sit still and calm, hoping that if walking around didn't help, then maybe this would. This leaves him practically vibrating with energy, but at least he's not accidentally trying to open any doors or climb out any windows. He takes a shaky inhale.

Tonight is going to be a very long night.

\--

"It's been a week, Tooru," Issei says gently. "He hasn't shown up again."

"He will," Tooru replies, senses fixed on the spot where Iwa had entered the last time. "I can feel it."

"You said you weren't sure," Takahiro reminds him, just as gently as Issei did. "You can't be unsure then and sure now. He's not coming."

"He is."

Takahiro shifts into his fox form and curls up in Oikawa's lap. "I'll wait here with you for now."

"Have I ever told you you're the best?"

Takahiro yawns, "Once or twice."

"What about me?" Issei asks. "Am I not the best?"

"Of course you are!" Tooru responds, humming in contentment when Issei shifts into a moon bear and presses up behind him, resting his chin on Tooru's shoulder. "You're both the best."

"We can't both be the best, so obviously it's me," Takahiro says.

"Clearly it's me," Issei responds.

"We all know the best is me," Tooru says with an air of finality, "You two are just tied for really close second. It's okay if you're disappointed that you can't ever be the best like me." He smiles as he talks, not even close to being able to pass his words off as serious. He knows they're trying to distract him from what's bound to become disappointment when Iwa doesn't come back, but for now, he's fine ignoring that fact. Which, if he thinks about it, means they're doing exactly what they're trying to.

“You wish,” Issei and Takahiro say in unison, snickering. Tooru pouts, but doesn’t react any more than that to the jab. Instead, he leans harder against Issei.

“You should sleep,” Issei rumbles. “I know it’s been a while.”

“I don’t need-”

Takahiro nips at his fingers softly. “Just because you don’t need sleep doesn’t mean it’s not nice. We’ll wake you up if he comes or if something’s wrong.”

“Promise?”

They both nod. “Promise.”

\--

By some sort of miracle, Hajime made it through the entire night without leaving his room. He hasn’t slept at all, but that’s not important right now. What is important is the fact that the urge to leave _still_ hasn't left. He's still, for some reason, _incapable_ of staying still. He manages through breakfast with his parents and grandmother, mostly because it was made especially for him on his birthday, before he just _has_ to leave the house or he's afraid he'll go crazy.

His parents make him take his phone with when he goes out for a run and he doesn't even argue, focused solely on leaving. Hajime idly thinks that he should be worried, possibly, but dismisses the thought quickly. He really doesn't want to think right now. Not when he's finally free to go wherever he wants. He starts out on his regular path, allowing himself to zone out for a while as he runs. 

When the world comes back into focus, he's on the edge of the forest and his chest aches with how badly he wants to go in. He's being pulled in, he can feel it more now than he had that entire week. His grandmother had said that he would be free from it by now, but apparently that hadn't worked. It feels like there's a rope around his heart, pulling him in and, really, who is he to say no?

Hajime enters the forest again, ignoring all of the warnings he had grown up with. All of the discomfort, the unrest, the feeling of something missing that he had been feeling vanishes instantly and he nearly gasps with the feeling of being _free_. It's addictive, how good he feels as he breathes in.

"So you did come back."

Hajime looks around for the source of the voice. He finds the spirit he had run into last time up in a tree.

"I did. I couldn't really keep myself away."

"But you did for so long," it says, looking down at him. "The pull was supposed to have worn off by now."

Hajime shrugs, drunk off of the pleasure of being back in the forest and not nearly as concerned as he should be. "Is it a bad thing that I'm here?"

"You're much more comfortable this time," it comments, ignoring him. He can't exactly say that he minds at the moment. The question isn't that important. "Don't tell me you're warming up to me?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Oh? Then what would you say?"

"I'd say I don't know anything about you, so I really can't make a judgement in any way."

"What would you like to know?" it asks.

"What can I call you?"

"You don't need to call me anything, do you? It's not like you'll need to know my name for anything."

Hajime looks down. "I guess not, but I'd still like to know."

"Very well, I will tell you what to call me after we've gone farther into the forest. If you can keep up," it stands, somehow balancing on the small branch it had been sitting on, before jumping down and running. Hajime hesitates for only a second before running after it. He's not paying attention to where he's going and he's distantly aware that this is how people get taken by spirits, but he doesn't _care_. If he gets taken, at least he'll be happy while it happens. 

He nearly runs into the spirit when it stops, the only thing keeping the collision from happening being a different spirit catching him. This one is wearing a fox mask and a matching orange yukata. And, Hajime is fairly certain, has actual fox ears.

"I told you he'd come back," the first spirit says, giving no indication that it was out of breath in any way.

"Do I get to know your name now?"

"Hm," the spirit taps its chin with its hand. "You can call me... Oikawa. And you can call him," Oikawa points at the new spirit, "Hanamaki. You've met before."

"What? But-" Hajime starts in confusion. Hanamaki transforms into a fox with a little cloud of smoke. "That was you?"

"Of course," Hanamaki says, changing back into his human form and hanging off of Hajime’s shoulder. "You're lucky you didn't do anything wrong. I'd have bitten your hand off."

Hajime shivers and steps away from him. "You wouldn't-"

Hanamaki hums noncommittally. "Who knows. Anything could happen, you know."

Oikawa snickers. "You're lucky Kyou didn't take your head off, Iwa. I wouldn't be so sure that we wouldn't hurt you just yet."

"You'd have done it before now, wouldn't you?" Hajime asks. "Why wait this long?"

"So that I can invite all of the other spirits to enjoy your death," Oikawa says, sounding dead serious.

Hajime's gaze darts between Oikawa and Hanamaki. He hates those damn masks. If he could see their faces behind the masks, he would be able to tell if the whole thing was a bluff or not. "You still would've already done it before now," he says confidently.

Oikawa smiles. "I suppose you're right about that."

"Why do you wear those masks?" he asks. Oikawa and Hanamaki look at each other, he's fairly certain in surprise. 

"It's just a thing we do, I suppose," Hanamaki answers, but Hajime is almost positive that's not the truth. "Nothing special about it."

"So take them off," he suggests. "If there's nothing special about them."

Hanamaki bites his lip and glances at Oikawa, lightning quick. "I prefer to wear mine."

Oikawa nods. "It's the same with me. I don't like to take it off because it's difficult to put back on."

Hajime crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow. "That's a lie. Just take them off. It's really not that big of a deal, right?"

Hanamaki's face drops into a scowl. He opens his mouth to say something, but Oikawa beats him to it.

"Fine."

"Seriously? To- _Oikawa_ you shouldn't," Hanamaki bursts out. All of the animosity from before turns into worry and fear. Or, at least, Hajime is pretty sure that's what that is.

"I'll be fine, Makki," Oikawa assures him lightly. "It's not like anything will happen if I take it off for a while."

"But in front of _him_ -"

"Makki," Oikawa says, voice going low and dangerous and Hajime is reminded that he really should fear these two, "stop."

Hanamaki stops talking instantly, but the glare Hajime is sure he's giving Oikawa more than makes up for scathing words. Oikawa reaches up and takes off his mask, struggling a bit with the way the mask wraps all the way around his face and is hooked on his ears.

"Happy now, Iwa?"

Hajime really can't help but stare. And stare. And stare. He knows he should have responded already, but he can't actually form words at the moment.

"Makki, do yours, too."

Hanamaki takes his own mask off. Hajime really, _really_ should say something. 

"Do you think he's okay?" Hanamaki leans closer to Oikawa to ask quietly, but Hajime hears him regardless. 

Oikawa shrugs, rubbing at his eye with his free hand. When he pulls his hand away, he blinks a few times before laughing and Hajime hears him say something about how it feels strange to take the mask off like this, but he's far too distracted by how happy Oikawa looks when he laughs. And by the way Hanamaki looks at Oikawa with so much adoration in his eyes while Oikawa is laughing.

He's brought out of his trance by a pair of hands coming down over his shoulders. He manages not to scream, but jumping isn't out of the question.

"It's really not fair that you two get to mess with the human right away while I'm stuck in the other side of the forest."

This spirit is the tallest one he's seen so far and apparently likes to use his head as an armrest. This one is also the one that seems the most comfortable touching him. Oikawa, so far, hasn't touched him once and Hajime is starting to wonder if that's intentional.

"Who're you?" Hajime asks, looking up at the newcomer.

"Call me Matsukawa," he answers. "Or Mattsun if you want to be like Oikawa. You're Iwa, right?" Hajime nods. "Oikawa was pouting all week because he thought you weren't going to show up again."

Hajime snickers and ignores Oikawa's indignant shouting. Now that he's been distracted from the sight of Oikawa and Hanamaki without their masks, he's realizing that he's _tired_. He hasn't slept well for an entire week and now he's comfortable here. Hajime yawns and the bickering between the three spirits immediately comes to a stop.

"How could we forget!" Oikawa wails dramatically. "You must be tired if you resisted the pull of the forest for so long, right?" Hajime nods. "You can take a nap here," he says with such finality that Hajime almost doesn't think of objecting.

"My parents will get worried if I'm not home soon. I should go."

"But- but you _can't_ leave," Oikawa protests.

"I have to, though. If I don't leave now, I won't be able to come back."

"Just don't leave."

Hajime sighs. "I can't just not leave. I'll be back, though. Tomorrow probably."

"We'll walk you to the edge of the forest," Matsukawa suggests. Hajime nods and Oikawa and Hanamaki put their masks back on. Matsukawa picks him up after only a few minutes of walking.

"I'm not tired enough that I can't walk," he says, though he's not exactly protesting to the treatment.

"It's a long walk back. You can sleep while we walk."

Hajime wants to argue more, mostly just to keep up his image, but he's very tired and Matsukawa's very warm and he finds himself being lulled into sleep faster and faster. Especially with how he can feel the vibrations from Matsukawa talking lowly. It’s comfortable and nice and Hajime never wants to leave. All too soon, however, he’s being shaken awake.

“Iwa, we can’t take you any farther,” Oikawa says quietly. 

Hajime groans and presses his face into Matsukawa’s chest. He’s surprised with how tactile he’s being. He isn't usually like this. He's not a touchy kind of person, especially not with people he's just met. And he shouldn't be like this with spirits. Hajime knows this. Knows it for certain. But that doesn't change how he's acting.

"I'll drop you," he hears Matsukawa say above him.

Hajime groans once more. "'m awake."

"Great, get down."

"You're the one that insisted on carrying me. Deal with this for a bit longer."

"You really didn't protest much," Hanamaki points out. Hajime shrugs, uncaring.

"What about your parents, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa asks. _That_ gets Hajime awake fully.

"By the way, there's this little box thing that keeps vibrating, it fell out of your pocket," Hanamaki says, holding up Hajime's phone. Hajime reluctantly lets Matsukawa set him onto his feet again and takes his phone back, unlocking it to find a few missed texts from his parents asking about his whereabouts. The three spirits crowd behind him to watch over his shoulder while he lets his parents know that he'll be home soon. 

"What _is_ that?" Hanamaki asks in wonder.

Hajime belatedly realizes that none of them have probably ever seen a phone before. "It's a phone. It lets me talk to my friends and parents from far away."

"How does it work?" Oikawa asks.

Hajime shrugs. "I don't really know a lot about how phones _work_ , I just know how to use them." He sees Oikawa's crestfallen expression and hurries to fix it. "I can learn about it, though. If you want to know. I can use my phone to look it up. I'm not sure how much you'll understand of the answer, though."

"That's fine," Oikawa says, but the tone of his voice lets Hajime know that, really, it isn't fine and he wants to know.

"I'll tell you when I get back, okay?"

"Okay."

Hajime leaves the forest, looking back for a second to wave at them only to find that they've all disappeared.

\--

Tooru watches Hajime leave, somewhat disappointed, but mostly surprised. "He shouldn't be able to leave," he says quietly.

Issei and Takahiro are on either side of him, both using his shoulders as armrests, but he can't find the presence of mind to push them off. "Maybe it's because of when he came back?" Takahiro suggests. Tooru merely stares blankly at the spot where Hajime used to be.

"He shouldn't be able to leave," he repeats.

"He said he'll be back," Issei says. 

"But-"

"Tooru," Takahiro says, soft but firm, "Don't freak out about this. It's not a big deal, right?"

"But it might be," Tooru's wringing his hands together restlessly, "I don't know. I... I don't know."

"What's the best case scenario?" Issei asks calmly. Takahiro had started to chew on his lip nervously as soon as Tooru said that he didn't know what would happen. If they both start freaking out, absolutely nothing good will come from it.

"Iwa comes back every day and nothing bad happens to him."

"And what's the worst case?"

"He's already dead and I've gone and gotten myself attached to someone who left again."

"Okay, and what's the most realistic outcome?" Tooru struggles to answer this one, so Issei helps him out. "Iwa will come back tomorrow and keep coming back. Nothing bad will happen to him. He won't abandon you like that one girl did. _And_ the balance won't be disrupted by him."

Tooru nods, unsure about the whole thing. He is grateful, though, that Issei is such a grounding presence. He makes an attempt to focus on that.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I shouldn't be like... that."

"It's fine to worry, Tooru, everyone does it."

"I'm supposed to be the forest's guardian. What good am I if I get incapacitated by something as small as this?"

"Tooru," Issei says, moving to face Tooru, caressing his cheek with his hand, "one of the things you need is to be grounded in reality, _and you are_. The fact that you worry shows that. If you didn't worry about anything, you wouldn't be the great guardian that you are."

Tooru leans into the hand. "Thank you."

"I wouldn't want anyone else trying to maintain balance here," Takahiro says honestly. "Regardless of my constant teasing."

Tooru smiles widely. "This is why I love you two."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aha i'm so glad to be ending this fic on time (lmao following an update schedule is wild)

Something isn't right. Hajime knows what normal feels like and this isn't it. It's almost like the pull for the forest is back, but it's nearly ten times stronger this time. Instead of feeling like he's being pulled towards the forest, he feels like he's being torn apart.

His family was going to go out for dinner tonight, but with the way he's feeling, he's fairly certain they'll have to reschedule.

Hajime curls into himself, shuddering with pain. He's not sure if his parents know that he's in his room in pain right now, and he really wishes that his phone wasn't so far away. His vision starts to blur and he realizes that this is much worse than he thought. 

He really needs to tell his parents. 

He nearly falls over the second he stands up, a combination of being dizzy and having weak and shaking legs. The floor seems like it's moving more with each step. It's a miracle that he makes it to the door without falling. When he opens the door, however, his luck seems to run out and he falls to the floor. A weak cry escapes his lips from the pain, but that's about all he can manage.

"Hajime!" he distantly hears his mother yell. Whatever is in his field of vision shifts, but he can't make out what it is that he's looking at. There's more yelling and then he's being moved and it _hurts_.

\--

Hajime wakes up again in a hospital room with an oxygen mask over his face. He can still feel the pain, but it's less intense now.

"Hajime, you're okay," his mother sighs in relief and rushes to his side to hold his hand. His father is on his other side, already holding onto his hand but asleep. "We thought you were going to die. You... you stopped breathing."

Hajime smiles and gives her hand a light squeeze, far too tired to attempt to speak, but hoping that she understood he is better now. He also squeezes his father's hand, just to be sure it was actually there. That none of this was some sort of hallucination. The light change in pressure wakes his father.

"You're alive, thank the gods," his father says. He brings Hajime's hand up to his own heart, letting Hajime feel the frantic beating. "I thought I'd lost you."

Hajime gives him a weak little smile and shakes his head, really only a minuscule movement, but enough that his father understands. "W-what... what..."

"Your mom saw you pass out when you were leaving your room. We brought you here as soon as we could. You stopped breathing just before we got here. The doctors have no idea what happened to you. It's a complete mystery."

Hajime wasn't sure it was a _complete_ mystery. He'd point out the fact that he went into the forest again, but he wasn't sure how well that would go over with his parents at this point.

"Where's grandma?" he asks instead.

His parents look at each other over him and they must think he's out of it enough to not notice the look.

"We aren't sure," his mother answers. "She left before you got home and she hasn't been back yet. She left her phone at home, but we left her a note so when she gets back she’ll know to come here."

\--

_Something_ is wrong. Tooru can feel that much, but he can't feel _what_ it is.

"Tooru, there's a human at the edge of the forest," Shigeru reports. Tooru nods, too preoccupied with trying to figure out what isn't right. "There's a human that's asking for you by name at the edge of the forest."

_That_ gets Tooru's attention. "Who?"

"Not Iwa, if that's who you're hoping for."

Tooru deflates, just a little, but moves as swiftly as possible to the place where Shigeru had told him to go. The human waiting there for him is old, but that doesn’t mean Tooru doesn’t recognize her.

“It’s been a while, Rina. What made you decide to finally come back?” Tooru asks, already on the defensive.

“I’m not back,” she says, “I’m here because of my grandson.”

“It doesn’t matter what you’re here for, it matters that you’re here again. Who is your grandson?”

She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. “I’m sure you know him already. He went into the forest a week ago.”

“Hm,” Tooru taps his chin, “I think I’ll need a name in order to remember him.”

“He’s dying, Tooru.”

Tooru shrugs nonchalantly. He’s panicking on the inside, but he’ll be damned if he lets her see that. “That’s not my problem,” he lies.

“It will be if I get the town to start cutting down your forest if he dies.”

Tooru gets as close to the edge of the forest as he possibly can. “If you do that,” he says quietly, “you can be sure more than just your grandson will die. And that blood would be on your hands.”

Rina steps forward, toe to toe with Tooru. “Spirits are just as capable of dying. And those deaths would be on you. Help my grandson.”

“I’ll need more than just a name, you know,” Tooru says after a moment.

“Do it without the name.”

Tooru sighs. “Even if I could heal him without a name for the magic, I need him _here_. Bring him here and give me a name and I’ll do it. You know the price, though.”

“I’d rather have him alive than dead,” she replies before turning around and walking away.

\--

Issei lifts his head up when he feels the call from Tooru. He’s near the edge of the forest, right next to one of the entrances to the forest. Issei starts running as soon as he pinpoints the location. Tooru wouldn’t usually call him in the middle of the day like this without a good reason. It doesn’t take him long to reach Tooru, he’s closer than he usually would be.

“Tooru, what’s wrong?”

“Iwa’s dying,” Tooru says, holding his head in his hands. “I don’t know what will happen. If he dies, it could mess with something, but if he lives, who _knows_ what’ll happen? Well, if he lives, I suppose he’d be a spirit, but obviously his _family_ isn’t going to be okay with that. And what if they try to come into the forest and they upset something and-”

“Tooru,” Issei says quietly, pulling him close and letting him drown in a hug. Tooru practically melts into the embrace. “We’ll have to deal with any of that when it happens. We can’t do anything else right now.”

“Taka’s coming, too,” Tooru mumbles into his chest.

“We’ll help you save him.”

“I was counting on it. I can’t do it without you.”

“You can,” Issei assures him, “You just won’t have to.”

“What’s going on?” Takahiro asks as soon as he arrives.

Issei answers before Tooru can get worked up again. “Iwa is dying, but we’re going to save him.”

“Rina’s going to make the people in town start to cut down the forest if he dies,” Tooru adds quietly.

“We’ll drive them out if they try,” Takahiro growls, coming closer to wrap himself around Tooru.

“When did Rina come into play?” Issei asks.

Tooru laughs bitterly. “Apparently Iwa is her grandson. She’s going to bring him here, I guess.”

Issei sees Takahiro’s ears twitch just before he says, “They’re almost here.”

Tooru straightens up and Issei is once again amazed at how well he can regain his composure. Issei and Takahiro fix their posture as well. He lets go of Tooru, well aware that when he’s in this state of mind, he doesn’t want to be comforted or consoled in any way. When Tooru is like this, he is the solitary leader he needed to be before he had the support of Issei and Takahiro. He is to be feared.

“How close are they?”

“Two minutes out, maybe less,” Takahiro informs him. “Rina, Iwa, and Iwa’s parents are in the car. Iwa’s parents are trying to make Rina turn around and go back to the hospital. Iwa still has a heartbeat, but he’s not breathing.”

“Right,” Tooru nods. They don’t wait at the edge of the forest for very long before Issei can hear the car, too. It screeches to a stop and Issei just barely catches Takahiro’s minute flinch at the noise.

Rina jumps out of the driver’s seat, surprisingly agile for someone of her age, and runs around to the other side of the car. She manages to get the door flung open and the buckle of Iwa’s seatbelt undone before Iwa’s parents get out of the car. Iwa’s father is closest to Rina and stops her before she can pull Iwa out of the car.

“Stop with this nonsense!” he yells, pulling her away from the car. “We need to get Hajime to-”

“Hajime,” Tooru hums and Issei nearly shivers with the raw power he can feel emanating off of him, “What a lovely name. I’m glad I finally get to hear it.”

Iwa’s father snaps his head up. “Who are-?”

“Hajime,” Tooru calls loudly and Issei can see Hajime’s eyelids flutter. Tooru repeats the call and Hajime’s eyes open all the way, nearly glowing green. “Come here.”

Hajime isn’t the most graceful when he leaves the car, nearly falling on his face, but he’s also not actually conscious. He still isn’t breathing. The only reason he can move at all is because Tooru commanded him to.

He stumbles once he crosses into the forest, but Tooru is there to catch him. He pulls Hajime all the way into the forest. His mother steps forward, but Tooru stops her.

“Do _not_ enter my forest,” he growls, “or more than just Hajime will be on the brink of death.”

Tooru gently lays Hajime down on the ground and Issei and Takahiro immediately move to hold down Hajime’s shoulders.

“What are you doing to him?” Hajime’s mother yells when Tooru straddles Hajime’s waist. 

Tooru doesn’t look away from Hajime when he says, “I won’t tell you again. Stay out of my forest.”

He tears the flimsy shirt Hajime’s wearing off in one smooth movement. Issei inwardly grimaces when Tooru sets his hands on Hajime’s chest. The touch of humans is often destructive to the forest and so, because it really only makes sense, it hurts Tooru in most cases.

There’s a wind picking up around the four of them and he can make out the faint green glow of Tooru’s magic spun through it. Tooru presses down on Hajime’s chest, hands actually going through it. Hajime’s body rejects the feeling and he starts struggling against Issei and Takahiro. He’s no match for them in strength, though, and they keep him down. The wind is getting stronger and stronger and Issei doesn’t even have to focus to see Tooru’s magic anymore.

Tooru takes one hand out of Hajime’s chest - the burns from touching him make it look like he stuck his hand directly into a fire - and uses it to pry his mouth open and breathe air into him. It reminds Issei of when he had become a corporeal spirit. Of course, the circumstances had been different and it wasn’t really needed for him. Issei was never human in the first place and he was never dying. Tooru probably could have found some other way to do this, but Issei’s fairly certain he just wants an excuse to almost-kiss Hajime, just like he wanted an excuse to kiss Issei.

His suspicions are confirmed when Tooru takes his other similarly burnt hand out of Hajime’s chest and plants it next to his head to _actually_ kiss Hajime. Hajime’s chest starts moving again and his eyes flutter open slowly. They’re green now, Issei notes. He’s fairly certain they had been gray before. 

Neither of them make any move to break their kiss. Tooru only backs away when Takahiro clears his throat quietly. Tooru throws a petulant little pout his way before pulling back all the way and watching Hajime. The wind around them dies down and Tooru’s magic fades back. Hajime’s eyes roll back in his head when he passes out, but at least he’s still breathing.

\--

He can hear talking, but he can’t make out the words. Everything sounds far away and Hajime really just wants to sleep. Just close his eyes and-

“Hajime,” a voice calls softly.

Hajime groans and opens his eyes. There’s something different about his vision, but he can’t figure out what exactly.

“Hajime,” the voice says again and he finally sees who’s talking.

 

“Oikawa?” he asks. “Where-” _No, that’s a stupid question._ “What’s going on?” Hajime sits up and realizes that the shawl Oikawa was wearing had been draped over him. It’s much warmer than he thought it’d be. Oikawa is sitting in front of him, but facing away.

“You died,” Oikawa says quietly. “It was only for a few seconds, really, but you died. There were vines wrapped around your lungs and heart.” Hajime’s hand subconsciously moves to his chest. “I saved you, but there’s a price.” 

Oikawa turns around and the first thing Hajime notices is that he's not wearing his mask. The second is that there’s a mask similar to his own in his hands, but the branches along the top are much shorter. He holds the mask out to Hajime and he sees that Oikawa’s hands are burnt badly.

“You’re a spirit now, Hajime.”

Hajime stares at him blankly. A spirit. There’s no way. Everyone knows that this _isn’t_ how spirits come to be. “I’m not.”

“You are. And this is yours,” Oikawa pushes the mask into Hajime’s hands. “And you can call me Tooru.”

“I don’t want this,” Hajime says, pushing the mask back at Tooru. “Take it back. Make me human again.”

“I _can’t_ ,” Tooru replies sadly. Hajime stands up and has to brace himself against the closest tree after he nearly falls over. “Your parents are waiting at the edge of the forest for you. I don’t know if you’ll be able to go through the barrier or not. I can’t and none of the other spirits can, but you’re… different. I don't know what will happen.”

“I don't care. I'll find a way to leave anyway.”

Tooru sighs and stands up. He holds out the mask again. “Take this.”

“Keep it,” Hajime says. “I don't want it.”

Tooru grabs Hajime’s shoulder and slams him against a tree. “You don't understand,” he says lowly. “You will take this and put it on before you take another step. This,” he holds the mask up, “is the source of your power and life. If you leave this behind or if it gets stolen, you could be controlled by whoever gets their hands on it.”

Hajime reluctantly takes the mask from him and puts it on. It feels strange to not fully be able to look out of the corner of his eyes, but he still feels like he knows what’s there anyway. “Are you happy now?”

Tooru slips his own mask on. “Let’s go see if you can leave,” he sighs, picking up the shawl and fastening it around Hajime’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t recommend it though, even if you can. At least not yet.”

“Why not?” Hajime asks, voice clipped. He doesn’t want to know, not really, but he’s fairly certain that the answer directly correlates with how long he’ll live.

“I don’t know how stable my magic is inside you yet. It would be better if you stayed here, at least for a few days, until I know that nothing is going to be undone.” Hajime nods. “There’s one other thing. Do you feel any specific connection with an animal?”

Hajime pauses to think about it. He’s always liked animals, but he’s fairly certain that’s not what Tooru is getting at. “I don’t think so? Why?”

“That’s what I thought. You’re a guardian. Like me. We don’t have an animal form.”

“What does that mean?”

“You know how Makki can shift into a fox?” Hajime nods. “I can’t do anything like that. I feel everything that happens in the forest, though. And I hold some power over the rest of the spirits-”

“You mean like me?”

Tooru shrugs. “I have no idea. Maybe, maybe not. If you’re a guardian spirit, I have no idea what you can do. There’s only supposed to be one guardian in every forest. But you obviously belong in this one and I belong here, too, so I don’t know.”

Hajime nods, the original shock and anger dying down, leaving him with a million different questions. They’ve nearly reached the edge of the forest, though, so those will have to wait. He turns to Tooru. “I won’t leave, but if I can go through the barrier, I will. Just to talk to my parents.”

“There’s, ah, one other thing,” Tooru says before Hajime can turn away. “You probably don’t want to touch them. I don’t know how it’ll be for you, but this,” he holds up his burnt hands, “is from you.”

“From… me?”

Tooru nods. “I can’t touch humans, so I don’t think you’ll be able to, either. Which means absolutely no direct contact.”

“Okay.”

The air is shimmering in front of him when he looks at where his parents are waiting. Hesitantly, he steps toward the edge of the forest, reaching out to touch what must be the barrier. It tingles as his fingers pass through, but _his fingers pass through_. Hajime takes a deep breath and steps through.

“Hajime?” his mother asks. “Hajime, is that you?”

Hajime belatedly realizes that he’s still wearing the mask and moves it up to rest on top of his head.

“You’re alive, thank the gods you’re alive,” his father breathes. 

His parents rush toward him and he reluctantly steps back, looking down. “I, uh, I’m not supposed to touch…”

“You’re not coming back to us, are you?” his mother asks softly.

Hajime shakes his head. “I’m… I’m not dead anymore, but I don’t think I can go far from the forest. I know I’m not going to be leaving the forest for a few days, at least. It’s something about magic, I think. I don’t really know much.”

“Will you ever be able to leave for longer?” his father asks. “Or go farther out?”

“I don’t know,” Hajime answers honestly. “I really don’t know a lot of things and the spirits I’ve talked to don’t really know much either. I’m apparently somewhat of an anomaly.”

“How long do we get to talk to you now?”

“I think not much longer. Even being this far out of the forest feels uncomfortable for me.”

“We’d best let you get back, then,” his mother says sadly.

“Never forget that we love you,” his father adds quickly, almost as though he thinks Hajime will leave before he gets the chance. “I know it may not have seemed like it recently, but I do love you.”

Hajime smiles, trying to hold back his tears. “I love you, too. Where’s grandma?””

“She left a few hours ago. She didn’t think you would be back,” his father explains. 

“A few hours ago? How long-?”

“We’ve been waiting for nearly six hours now. And if you can, in a few days, come visit us. Just to prove her wrong,” his mother says with a smile. Hajime bites his lip and rushes forward, ignoring Tooru’s warning and hugging his mother tightly. “I thought you said-”

“You can’t touch my skin, but if there’s something between us it’s fine.” He tries to hold back a grimace, feeling an itching sensation on his back. “I think I need to go.”

“Remember we love you,” his mother says quickly before he pulls away and wraps his father in a hug.

“I love you both too,” he says again. “I’ll see you again.”

Hajime turns away and reenters the forest, not bothering to turn around again. He slides the mask back down onto his face.

\--

Hajime hasn’t seen Matsukawa or Hanamaki since he had semi-woken up after Tooru had saved his life. Tooru has been leading him through the forest, pointing out various landmarks as they go, but it’s clear that there is a purpose past just this.

“This,” Tooru says, coming to a stop in an area that isn’t particularly notable, “is the center of the forest.” He sits down on his knees, gesturing for Hajime to do the same across from him.

“It doesn’t look like much,” Hajime comments as Tooru reaches over to slip the shawl off of his shoulders.

“It shouldn’t. If many spirits knew that this was the center, the forest could be much more unstable than it is now.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“If you are, in fact, a guardian, you’ll need to know. And I don’t think you’ll challenge me for my power,” Tooru answers simply. “Give me your hands.”

Hajime lays his hands gently in Tooru’s. Immediately there’s a vortex around him, glowing green and exactly what he would expect magic to look like. “What are you doing?” he asks calmly.

“I’m checking on how your body is adapting. There’s-” Tooru pauses, tilting his head. 

“What?”

“The vines that were around your heart and lungs, they’re… still there,” Tooru says uncertainly. “This might hurt a bit and you’re probably not going to like it.”

Hajime looks up at Tooru’s face in surprise. He tries to pull his hands back, but it feels like they’re glued down. He arches his back, holding back a scream as something shoots through his back and wraps around his chest and arms. He wants to push whatever it is off, but his hands are _still_ stuck.

Hajime is panting when Tooru finally lets go of his hands and the vortex around them dies down. He falls to his side, completely drained of energy.

“Are you alright, Hajime?” Tooru asks, bringing Hajime’s head into his lap and running his fingers through his hair.

Hajime nods weakly. He really shouldn’t trust Tooru like he does. “What did you do?”

“The vines would have wrapped around your heart again, so I moved them.” Hajime looks down at himself, seeing vines, just like Tooru’s, wrapping around his arms and torso. “I’m not sure if it’s possible for me to get rid of them completely.”

“I don’t mind,” Hajime hums. “Next time, give me some warning, though.”

“I don’t think you’ll have vines wrapped around your heart often,” Tooru says with a smile.

“Is this what happened when you got your vines?” Hajime asks. “Were you human, too?”

Tooru pauses, tilting his head as he looks down at Hajime. “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything other than this forest.”

“Thought we might find you here,” Matsukawa says, breaking the atmosphere. Hanamaki is trotting along next to him in fox form as they approach. “Love the new matching look.”

Hanamaki practically shoves Hajime’s head off of Tooru’s lap before curling up in his place. Hajime rubs the back of his head as he sits up. “What was that for?”

There’s a poof of smoke and then Hanamaki is sitting in human form on Tooru’s lap with his hands around his neck. “You were in my spot.” Tooru laughs, but Hanamaki cuts him off with a short kiss.

“You never were good at sharing, were you Takahiro?” Tooru smiles softly. 

“Takahiro?” Hajime asks.

Takahiro leans back to look at Hajime. “I suppose you can call me that.”

Matsukawa sits down next to Hajime, leaning close and whispering loudly, “He just doesn’t want to admit that he thinks you’re cute.”

“Issei! I-I do not, it’s you who thinks that!”

Tooru laughs and Hajime laughs with him. Issei and Takahiro give them both the most _offended_ expressions before joining in. Hajime leans over to rest his head on Issei’s shoulder and somehow fails to notice the look of surprise Issei gives him. He’s not pushed off, though, so he figures it’s okay.

Hajime realizes that he’s surprisingly more okay than he thought he would be with the fact that he can’t go far from the forest anymore. Especially if he gets to spend the time with Tooru and Issei and Takahiro.

Of course, the peace can’t last. A wolf, the same one that had threatened Hajime on his first day in the forest, runs up to them. It’s panting hard when it reaches them.

“Kentarou, what’s wrong?” Tooru asks, all of the carefree air from before gone completely.

“Shigeru,” Kentarou wheezes out. He gently lowers himself to lay on the ground and Iwaizumi sees what must be Shigeru draped across his back.

Tooru gently moves Shigeru onto the ground. Hajime hadn’t known that spirits could bleed, but apparently they can. At least, Hajime is fairly certain the gold liquid leaking out of Shigeru’s wounds was blood.

“What happened to him?” Hajime asks quietly. Tooru is healing the worst of Shigeru’s wounds for now, but Hajime can tell that he’s paying attention, too.

Kentarou shifts out of his wolf form. “We were walking along the border,” he says, pausing to cough before continuing, “the spirits went straight for Shigeru and did _this_.”

“Who did this?” Tooru asks lowly.

Kentarou grits his teeth and looks down. “I didn’t see them. Is Shigeru going to be okay?”

“He’ll live, but you know what this means, right?” Tooru says, looking at everyone except Hajime. “This _is_ an act of war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _yes_ I'm writing a sequel. I love this au too much to not

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [here](https://theprettysettersclub.tumblr.com), [here](https://nightshade002.tumblr.com), [here (with friends)](https://thewritersquad.tumblr.com), and [here (it's new)](https://ask-tooru.tumblr.com)
> 
> i love this au so much i can't wait to share the rest with you all!! I'll likely update this once a week (for real this time)


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